For his own good, Malcolm Turnbull can’t get out of the country quickly enough. He’s off on Wednesday to the G20 in Germany and, if he has any sense, while he’s abroad he’ll try to avoid being drawn on…

Tony Abbott has called for reform to the way the NSW branch of the Liberal Party preselects election candidates.
AAP/Lukas CochAugust 14, 2016

As a decision-making forum, the Labor Party's national conference is not naturally suited to deep, system-wide organisational reform.

The problem confronting Labor and federal leader Bill Shorten is not so much the ties with unions as the centralisation of power in the party and a handful of affiliated unions.
AAP/Lukas CochOctober 28, 2014

Proposed reforms in the Australian Labor Party aim to give members a greater voice in party governance and policy development. This is driven by the need to reverse the party’s shrinking support base after…

Gough Whitlam took principled revisionism to the very top of Labor politics.
AAP/Sergio DionisioOctober 21, 2014

There was nothing inevitable about Gough Whitlam’s rise to the top. He had to fight every inch of the way. The fight was not only against born-to-rule Liberals who thought he had betrayed his class but…

Bill Shorten’s reference to party reform was once-over-lightly when he addressed the NSW ALP conference on Sunday. Shorten said Labor had to “rebuild as a party of members, not factions”. Members had to…

It seems things are not yet bad enough in the Labor Party to make significant reform, such as John Faulkner’s proposed changes to preselection, likely.
AAP/Daniel MunozJuly 24, 2014

Labor senator John Faulkner does not anticipate that his moves to reform the party’s preselection processes will succeed at this weekend’s NSW State Conference. Faulkner is hoping to have the rules changed…

Senator John Faulkner is a voice for Labor Party reform.
AAP/Daniel MunozJuly 21, 2014

Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten has outlined his vision for a rejuvenated Labor Party. His speech earlier this week was a call to arms for the reform of federal Labor’s organisational rules. While Shorten’s…

Labor senator John Faulkner is one leading voice to call for reform of the party in response to recent poor electoral performances.
AAP/Alan PorrittApril 14, 2014

In the wake of the ALP’s poor result in the recent Western Australia Senate election, The Conversation is publishing a series of articles looking at the party’s brand, organisation and future prospects…

What do we know so far of the policy positions of new opposition leader Bill Shorten?
AAP/Lukas CochOctober 15, 2013

In his pitch to Labor’s rank and file for the right to lead the federal parliamentary party, Bill Shorten declared that his aim - should he become prime minister - would be to serve on behalf of: … the…

Bill Shorten is the new ALP leader, after an election contest where the votes of the rank and file party members were included for the first time.
AAP/Lukas CochOctober 13, 2013

So the election between two middle-aged, middle class, white men with broadly shared policy agendas is over. In this case, it is not the federal election between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, but the month-long…

New Zealand’s new Labour leader David Cunliffe has been elected in a process involving direct voting by the party membership.
NZN/Laura McQuillanSeptember 18, 2013

While Australia’s Labor Party is digesting a significant electoral defeat, the New Zealand Labour Party, in opposition since 2008, has gone through another leadership change and is positioning itself to…

Reform of the ALP has been raised by several key figures such as former leader Mark Latham, and implemented in some form by current prime minister Kevin Rudd.
AAP/Alan PorrittJuly 29, 2013

On Monday, prime minister Kevin Rudd announced a series of proposals to change the way the Australian Labor Party selects its parliamentary leader. Under his proposal, incumbents can only be challenged…

We factcheck Malcolm Turnbull and Anthony Albanese on this week’s Q&A program.
July 9, 2013

UPDATED: We were inundated with ideas for statements to check from Monday night’s Q&A on ABC TV. Here, our experts tackle four claims on three of the most requested topics. 1. Anthony Albanese: claims…